8-acre parcel in El Cerrito makes a big footprint

2 city parks, hiking trails are connected by acquisition

Published 4:59 pm, Friday, August 30, 2013

Neighbors and preservationists walk through a meadow in newly acquired open space in El Cerrito on Wednesday.

Neighbors and preservationists walk through a meadow in newly acquired open space in El Cerrito on Wednesday.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Dave Weinstein and his dog, Patches, admire the sweeping view from the small parcel of land that now links two existing parkland areas in El Cerrito.

Dave Weinstein and his dog, Patches, admire the sweeping view from the small parcel of land that now links two existing parkland areas in El Cerrito.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Image 3 of 5

Nine-year-old Quincy Hill rides his mountain bike through the newly acquired open space area in El Cerrito on Wednesday.

Nine-year-old Quincy Hill rides his mountain bike through the newly acquired open space area in El Cerrito on Wednesday.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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Tim Gehling hikes in a meadow at newly-acquired open space known as Madera Hillside in El Cerrito, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013. The 7.6-acre parcel of land links two existing parkland areas popular for its trails and wildlife in the hills above El Cerrito. less

Tim Gehling hikes in a meadow at newly-acquired open space known as Madera Hillside in El Cerrito, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013. The 7.6-acre parcel of land links two existing parkland areas popular for ... more

But the rugged, 8-acre parcel in the El Cerrito hills is the Bay Area's most recent open space victory, a long-awaited acquisition that has environmentalists celebrating.

"It was the missing puzzle piece," said Jenny Hammer of the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers, a volunteer group that helped with the project. "Now we have a connection to this much larger open space network."

The Madera property sale, which closed Friday , links two large city parks, creating a 90-acre swath of green space in the crowded East Bay hills.

It's also just a few blocks from Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, a 2,429-acre expanse of oaks and grassland saddling the ridge.

After the property is cleaned up and the trails built, it will offer a quiet haven for hiking, bicycling, bird-watching and relaxing for thousands of residents in El Cerrito, Richmond and other pockets of the East Bay lacking sufficient parkland, organizers said.

"This is definitely open space for the people," said Brendan Moriarty, project manager for the Trust for Public Land, which assisted in the sale. "It shows that with just 8 acres, you can really do something significant."

The property was once slated for homes. The owner, Jim Busby, a Martinez developer, had city approval to build 11 houses on the Madera site, but in the past decade, the real estate crash and community resistance stalled the plan.

Meanwhile, hikers, dog walkers and bicyclists regularly tromped through the property, creating a few informal trails that were not regularly maintained and became fairly overgrown with broom and other invasive plants.

Good timing

Then, about a year ago, Gary Hill, an architect and coach of the El Cerrito High School mountain biking team who regularly rides in the local hills, started wondering what was happening with the space. He tracked down the owner and learned that the property would soon be up for sale.

"He showed me a map with all these potential trails and connections, and I got it," Moriarty said. "It was an obvious fit."

They negotiated the price from $600,000 to $475,000. The city did not have enough cash available, so the Trust for Public Land agreed to buy the land and hold it until December 2014, until the city raises enough money through grants, donations and park bond funds.

Rare opportunity

"Opportunities like this come up very rarely," said Melanie Mintz, El Cerrito's community development director. "We had to jump on it."

After the city takes over the deed, volunteers will build trails, remove nonnative plants and provide basic maintenance, while the city will offer fire protection.

Many residents in El Cerrito are excited to have a new park in town, organizers said.

"They aren't making more dirt, it's as simple as that. We need this. We need open space," said Robert Studdiford, an El Cerrito High School mountain biking coach. "To be able to take kids here ... this is huge."

Surrounding area

The full 90-acre park, called the Hillside Natural Area, includes three creeks and a dense forest of coast live oaks. Coyote, fox, deer, red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons are among the regular denizens.

The acquisition is a small but important part of the larger movement to save the East Bay hills, Hammer said.

"Years ago, if someone hadn't had the foresight to take action, there'd be houses from here to Orinda," she said. "If we want to protect these beautiful hillsides, we can't just sit by."

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